Pet Peeve: Famous Voice Talent
July 6th, 2007I know people may disagree with me here, but this is something that disproportionately annoys me. I’ve been thinking about it a bit more since seeing Ratatouille, but had to wait for this Sierra press release to set me off.*
Apparently, Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman will be lending their voices to the newest Spyro. I don’t really get the use of major voice talent in videogames (or animated movies) as a matter of principle - recognizable voices are distracting, have too many connotations already, are expensive, and are unnecessary given the wide variety of vocal talent already out there. Do game purchasers really make buying decisions on that basis? And note that this isn’t the same as licensed music; there’s no authenticity that famous voices lend to a game.
Publishers: stop complaining about the spiraling costs of development if you’re going to fritter away your cash on crap like this.
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* I was particularly irritated when one film critic panned Ratatouille simply because it hadn’t stunt-cast anyone as the main rat.
Posted in Gear, Idiocy |
July 6th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
I’ll agree and disagree on this one. I agree that this is perhaps not the best use of development dollars, however, more important than the recognition known voice talent may bring to a game, is the actual TALENT. I’ll use ratatouille as an example since you mentioned it. They could have saved a bundle of money by having some no-name voice the food critic character, instead, they went with a pro. And boy oh boy was I glad. Peter O’Toole was AMAZING. Likewise, I support the use of known voice talent if the idea is to bring the talent to improve the game experience (lets face it, voice acting in games tends to be horrendous).
I remember the beginning of KillZone on PS2 and thinking, WOW, whoever is voicing this guy (the head helgast leader guy in the intro cutscenes) is great! It turns out it was Brian Cox, a great actor and amazing voice. I don’t recall Cox being a selling feature prior to the titles release (perhaps I missed it), but it sure made for a better game IMO. And I can’t recall now, but Patrick Stuart did some voice acting on a game or two (Demon Stone?)as well, and it was great, even though I totally recognized his voice.
July 6th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
I prefer non-famous voice actors.